The present invention relates to a runner for a vehicle seat, and to a system for a vehicle including a seat equipped with such a runner.
More particularly, the invention relates to a runner comprising a male bar and a female bar that are mounted to move relative to each other over a predetermined stroke, the runner further comprising a detector disposed on one of the male and female bars, and a detectable member disposed on the other of the male and female bars, the detector being adapted to detect the presence of the detectable member while said detectable member is situated in a first fraction of said stroke and the absence of said detectable member while said detectable member is situated in a second fraction of the stroke, the first and second fractions together defining the entire stroke of the male and female bars relative to each other.
Such runners, as equipped with detectors and detectable members, are known, in particular, from U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,529 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,555. In such runners, the detector and/or the detectable member are situated outside the male and female bars, so that the detection zone in which the detector is to detect whether or not the detectable element is present is accessible from the outside of the runner. It can be understood that the accidental presence of any objects such as coins or chippings within the detection zone of the detector can cause accidental detection which does not correspond to the exact relative position of the male and female bars.
Since the detection performed is taken into account in the relationships for controlling various actuator devices, such as for the vehicle suspension, for air conditioning or for triggering airbags, it can be understood that accidental and erroneous detection leads to erroneous control of the actuator devices.
A particular object of the present invention is to mitigate those drawbacks.
To this end, according to the invention, a vehicle seat runner of the type in question is characterized in that: the male bar is a generally channel section bar comprising a horizontal web from which two substantially vertical side flanges extend that are extended outwards by lips, each lip being provided with an edge; in that the female bar is a generally channel section bar comprising a horizontal web from which two side walls extend, each of which is formed by a substantially vertical flange which is extended by a flange lip extending inwards and down towards the web of said female bar, the lips of the male bar being received between the vertical flanges and the lips of the female bar, and the lips of the female bar being received between the vertical flanges and the lips of the male bar; in that the detectable member is formed by a tab that is integral with or secured to the edge of one of the lips of the male bar; and in that the corresponding side wall of the second bar has an opening disposed in correspondence with the detector adapted to detect the presence or the of the tab of the male bar.
By means of these provisions, the detectable member, formed by the tab of the male bar, is received directly in a protected space formed by the vertical flange and the lip of the corresponding side wall of the female bar, and the presence of the opening in said side wall of the female bar makes it possible to position the detector so that its detection zone faces towards the protected space formed by the vertical flange and by the lip of the side wall of said female bar.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, it is possible, optionally, to make use of one or more of the following provisions:
at least part of the detector is disposed in the opening in the side wall of the female bar;
the tab extends longitudinally between two ends, and the corresponding side wall of the second bar, which wall is provided with the opening, extends between two ends, each of which is provided with an abutment element serving to co-operate with the ends of the tab to define said predetermined stroke over which the male and female bars move relative to each other.
the detector comprises:
firstly an elastically-deformable member having a first end secured to the side wall of the female bar, and a free second end disposed in the opening of the female bar and in the vicinity of the edge of the male bar, the tab of the male bar being disposed to move said free end by deforming the elastically-deformable member when said tab is facing the detector; and
secondly, a sensor suitable for detecting deformation of the elastically-deformable member when the tab of the male bar moves the free end of said elastically-deformable member;
the sensor is mounted on a support member that is fixed removably to the side wall of the female bar, said sensor being disposed facing the opening of the female bar;
the detector comprises:
firstly, a pivotally-mounted element having one end mounted to pivot on a separate support member mounted on the female bar, and a free end disposed in the opening in the female bar and in the vicinity of the edge of the male bar, the tab of the male bar being disposed to cause the free end of the pivotally-mounted element to pivot when said tab is facing the detector; and
secondly, a sensor mounted on the support member, the sensor being suitable for detecting pivoting of the pivotally-mounted element;
the detector comprises:
at least one magnetic member and excitation means for generating a magnetic field in said magnetic member, said magnetic member and the excitation means being received, at least in part, in the opening in the female bar, so as to co-operate with the tab to define a magnetic circuit while said tab is present facing said magnetic member, said tab being made of a material that is also magnetic; and
a Hall-effect probe secured to the magnetic member, said probe being organized to deliver a signal at least when said tab is facing the magnetic member by closing the magnetic circuit;
the detector is fixed to a support member that is mounted on the side wall of the female bar by clipping;
the support member is a generally channel section member comprising:
an intermediate plate on which the detector is mounted by being received in the opening provided in the vertical flange of the female bar;
an end plate which extends from the intermediate plate and which has a shape complementary to the shape of the lip of said female bar; and
two clipping fingers which extend from the intermediate plate, the two clipping fingers being engaged in holes provided in a wedge zone situated between the web of the female bar, and the corresponding vertical flange of the female bar; and
the support member further comprises a fold-over element which connected to the intermediate plate and which serves to be folded over between the two clipping fingers and against the wedge zone of the female bar, so as to lock the support member onto the female bar after the clipping fingers have been engaged in the corresponding holes.
The invention also provides a vehicle seat including a seat proper supported by at least one runner as defined above.
In addition, the invention also provides a system for a vehicle, said system being characterized in that it comprises:
a vehicle seat as defined above;
at least one actuator device having two operating modes; and
a control device connected to the detector of the runner and suitable for causing the actuator device to operate selectively in one or other of its two operating modes depending on the position of the seat relative to the floor of the vehicle as detected by the detector of the runner.
According to an advantageous characteristic of the system for a vehicle, the actuator device is an airbag disposed to protect an occupant of the seat in the event of an accident, and the control device is adapted to inflate the airbag in the event of an accident.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention appear from the following description of embodiments of it, given by way of non-limiting example, and with reference to the accompanying drawings.